Swinton Athletic 0-2 Houghton Main

County Senior League Premier Division; Saturday 14th November 2015

The excellent understanding of Houghton Main attackers’ Ashley Emmett and Kieran Hirst proved to be the decisive difference in Saturday’s County Senior League Premier Division promotion clash with Swinton Athletic.

The pair combined in both goals as Main left the Mexborough Athletic Club ground with a 2-0 victory after scoring at the midway point of the first and second halves.

The visitors took the lead in the 25^th minute. Good work from Hirst down the left and a delicious, pin-point through ball to Emmett allowed the Number Seven to compose himself before calmly slotting the ball beneath the Swinton goalkeeper, Dan Morton, and into the back of the net.

Eighteen minutes from time the points were sealed. Jekyll and Hyde defending from Swinton’s Ben Pankovics and Jon Billups allowed Emmett’s to break away with the ball at his feet, before a low ball forward picked out Hirst who casually chipped his shot into the top left hand corner, beyond the diving Morton.

The result, Houghton’s ninth victory in twelve league matches, extends the club’s lead at the top of the table, with Swinton now trailing them by twelve points.

A minute’s silence prior to the match marked a potent tribute to the Paris terrorist attacks which had taken place the previous evening.

Both sides lined up with systems which aimed to flood the midfield, and so it proved with a game of few chances. 

Houghton however, looked the brighter and created the best of the early chances. Emmett showed signs of things to come when driving past defender George Morley but his resulting cross-come-shot was collected by Morton.

Hirst demonstrated a skilful move when dribbling past Pankovics, before pulling the ball back and swinging a fierce, left-footed drive onto the crossbar.

Houghton continued to press and moments later a powerful effort from 25 yards by Ryan Beadling flew wide of the left hand post.

The visitors have many attributes of a side challenging for the league title and their qualities were shown throughout the game. Jake Simon chipped the ball into the path of Emmett, who brought the ball down with his chest before unleashing a volley which went narrowly wide.

 On 21 minutes they came close to taking the lead. Simon’s run down the left created space in the middle for Hirst who had peeled away from his marking defender. However the striker’s shot lacked the necessary power and despite beating the goalkeeper was cleared off the line by Pankovics.

However Houghton’s wait for a goal was soon to come to an end. Hirst turned provider for Emmett who fired a close range shot beneath the diving Morton to make it 1-0.

It took until the 29^th minute for Swinton to register their first shot. Lucas Briggs’ effort was blocked by a defender before Craig Mitchell’s effort from the edge of the box failed to trouble Damon Watson.

Swinton’s back three looked outnumbered at times and Houghton were keen to deploy high pressing and put the hosts under pressure. A defensive mix up saw the ball fall to Emmett, who escaped a challenge before slamming the ball into the body of the Swinton goalkeeper.

Another defensive mix-up amongst the Swinton defence five minutes later saw Emmett round goalkeeper Morton, but Morley was on hand to clear the goal-bound effort.

With only a 1-0 deficit, Swinton were still in the match and produced an improved second half display. However Houghton still created many of the early post-interval opportunities with Emmett denied by Morton and Hirst sending a shot wide.

On 58 minutes, Swinton won a free-kick on the edge of the box. Pankovics placed the ball down, but his blistering effort flew just wide of the right post.

Simon then dispossessed the Swinton right full back and slotted the ball through to Hirst, only to see Morton pull off a superb save from the resulting one-on-one.

At the other end, Houghton were attempting to slow the game down and conceded a number of free-kicks. The latest of which, from a central position, saw Jon Billups send a shot over the bar.

The warning signs from Swinton’s defence remained and the scoreline was settled with another debacle. Emmett pounced on a misunderstanding between Pankovics and Billups before slotting in Hirst who duly found the net.

It was almost 3-0 when Ryan Beadling found his way on to the end of a long ball from the back, but his first-time effort was smothered by Morton.

Pankovics, having an eventful afternoon, saw the ball taken from him by Emmett whose resulting cross was struck powerfully by Hirst but Morton denied the lively striker his second goal of the game.

As the full-time whistle loomed, substitute Luke Shaw found himself on the end of Morton’s free kick but sent a glancing header wide of the left post, and the game ended 2-0.

Defeat for second-placed Swallownest ensures that Houghton have a three point lead at the top of the Premier Division, whilst Swinton remain fifth. 

Swinton Athletic team: Dan Morton, Craig Mitchell, Ryan Doxey, Lucas Briggs, Ben Pankovics, Jon Billups, George Morley, Guy Sandland, Joe Dungworth, Matt Beevers, Aaron Wilks. Substitutes: Connor Doxey, Darren Walker, Justin Greenwood, Luke Shaw, Hayden Barret.

Houghton Main team: Damon Watson, Danny Burkinson, Jake Ward, Ryan Beadling, Macauley Evans, Aaron Tate, Ashley Emmett, Max Phillis, Joel Hunt, Kieran Hirst Jake Simon. Substitutes: Connor Turford, Nicky Harper, Darren Green, Craig Jackson.